11/11/2022
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's qualifying session, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees.
With just one practice session under their belts the teams were already heading into this afternoon somewhat on the back foot, but just to further complicate matters it is raining.
With Max Verstappen having already made clear his feelings in terms of the Sprint, namely the fact that he is under orders not to push too hard, not to risk damage, due to the main event being on Sunday, this could be a golden opportunity for some of the smaller teams to take a risk, especially as it is likely to be wet for the Sprint also.
In the minutes before the start of Q1 the rain stops, but the track remains wet and as we know from experience Interlagos has history in terms of the circuit's reputation for poor drainage which leads to rivers running across certain parts of the track.
In the moments before Q1 light drizzle begins to fall with the threat of a heavier downpour later in Q2 and Q3.
The lights go green and first out are the Haas pair, followed by Tsunoda, Gasly, Stroll and Leclerc, with Inters being the order of the day.
"Rain expected in ten minutes," Leclerc is warned.
"Track looks quite dry," reports Sainz.
"We believe the final corner may be the wettest place," Ricciardo is told as Leclerc goes quickest with a 19.191.
Stroll goes second, ahead of Magnussen, Bottas and Gasly.
A 19.504 sees Tsunoda go second, ahead of Norris, only to be demoted by his AlphaTauri teammate who crosses the line at 19.269.
Sainz goes second with an 18.888 as Leclerc consolidates his top spot with an 18.723.
On his first flyer, Verstappen goes quickest (18.495), as Perez can only manage 12th (19.720).
Norris improves to third, while Hamilton goes sixth.
No sooner has Perez gone second with an 18.503 than Alonso stops the clock at 18.412 to go top.
"Some bits very dry, some bits damp," reports Norris as Gasly makes the switch to slicks (softs).
Verstappen goes quickest (18.198) and Magnussen third, as all eyes are on Gasly to see how the Alpine driver reports on the slicks.
Magnussen has hit time deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 7.
Hamilton goes quickest (18.051) and Schumacher fourth, as Gasly begins his first flying lap of the slicks.
Albon also switches to slicks.
Tsunoda goes fifth (18.490), as Gasly isn't showing any sign of improving on his first flying lap.
Next time around the Frenchman goes quickest in S1, maintaining the pace in S2. At the line the alpine driver posts a 17.626 which is the cue for his rivals to make the switch.
"Come on, what do I do?" asks a clearly irritated Leclerc as his team dithers over its choice of tyres.
Gasly improves to 16.557 as Norris goes quickest in S2.
Albon goes second, but is demoted when Norris crosses the line at 17.178.
Russell goes second as the timing screen lights up in greens and purples.
Alonso goes top with a 16.177 as Ricciardo posts an 18.083 to go sixth.
Latifi goes quickest, but is demoted by Norris (14.381), as Verstappen goes second.
Leclerc is impeded by a slow Tsunoda, and the Monegasque isn't happy.
Sainz goes third while his Ferrari teammate fails to improve on 18th.
Albon retakes the top spot, ahead of Norris and Gasly, however Hamilton is about to improve.
Alonso goes quickest with a 13.542 as Vettel goes second.
Magnussen goes third, while Leclerc goes ninth.
A 13.106 sees Hamilton go top, only to lose out to Norris who posts a late 13.106.
"I made the wrong call with the Inters," admits Bottas.
Phew! That was frantic.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Perez, Verstappen, Magnussen, Albon, Gasly and Stroll.
We lose Latifi, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher.
Vettel leads the way as Q2 begins, the German followed by Magnussen, Gasly, Verstappen and Norris.
As more drivers head out, all are sporting softs.
Of the first wave, Verstappen goes quickest with an 11.670, but Norris has an 11.571 up his sleeve. Alonso goes third with an 11.748.
Gasly goes third (11.675), ahead of Alonso, Albon, Sainz and Ocon.
"There is a bot of rain on my vison in Turn 4 and the last sector," reports Gasly. However, he is told that there is no rain on the radar.
Magnussen goes fourth (11.691), ahead of Alonso, Leclerc, Albon and Sainz.
Alonso retakes the top spot with an 11.394, while Vettel can only manage 11th.
Russell believes the team is taking a risk by running old tyres and wants to switch to fresh rubber. He subsequently pits.
"It's definitely getting darker here," reports Verstappen, "a bit of rain, a bit of drizzle."
PBs in the first two sectors for Russell, who eventually crosses the line at 11.475 to go third.
Teammate Hamilton subsequently posts an 11.539 to go fourth, just 0.007s off his teammate's best.
Vettel fails to improve on 13th, while teammate Stroll remains 15th.
As we go on-board with Sainz it is clear that it is beginning to drizzle, though only in S2.
At which point Norris goes quickest in S2, while Vettel improves to eighth overall.
Perez goes fourth and Norris second, the Briton stopping the clock at 11.377.
Leclerc goes second and Russell third but both are demoted when Sainz goes second with a 10.890.
Magnussen goes seventh, while Albon fails to improve on eleventh.
A mistake in Turn 1 ruins Vettel's final lap, while teammate Stroll also looks to have missed the cut.
There are no PBs far less purples as conditions have clearly deteriorated.
Quickest is Verstappen, ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Magnussen, Perez, Hamilton and Ocon.
We lose Albon, Gasly, Vettel, Ricciardo and Stroll.
Check out our Friday gallery from Interlagos here.
Ahead of Q3, Christian Horner and Laurent Mekies look to the sky, which is considerably darker than it was a few minutes ago.
Magnussen heads the queue at the end of the pitlane.
"Rain is incoming," Verstappen is told.
All are on softs bar Leclerc who is on Inters. "Am I the only one on Inters," he asks, his voice full of concern.
Surprisingly, at the end of his out lap Leclerc stays out on the Inters. He is clearly struggling, as is Perez who is stuck behind the Ferrari.
Magnussen goes quickest, ahead of Verstappen and Sainz, as Leclerc finally pits.
Russell goes third, ahead of Norris, Sainz and Ocon.
Russell is off and in the gravel at Turn 5, just as Perez had gone quickest in S1.
The session is red-flagged.
"Did everyone complete a lap on slicks," asks Leclerc, who has yet to post a time. Told they have, the Monegasque simply responds: "Unbelievable!"
Replay shows Russell simply lost the car under braking but then made the mistake of applying the power too soon in the gravel and spinning, thereby digging the car into the kitty litter.
Told he is currently P1, Magnussen replies: "You're kidding!"
Aware that there remains 8:10 of running, though it is raining hard, the Dane advises his team: "Don't celebrate too soon."
The session resumes and Perez leads the way, the Mexican having switched to Inters.
There is no rush to join him. Indeed, at the end of his lap the Red Bull driver pits.
With 05:20 remaining, Leclerc is out of his car and walking over to the pit-wall, his demeanour suggests he is unhappy at yet another Ferrari screw-up.
In the Red Bull garage, Verstappen is out of his car.
As the clock ticks down it is all smiles all around at Haas, while Magnussen shakes his head in disbelief.
Hamilton heads out on Inters, much to the delight of the crowd... not because they don't want Magnussen on pole but because they want some action.
However, as conditions worsen, the seven-time champion pits.
In the Haas garage its pandemonium, while Guenther Steiner is applauded by the crowd opposite.
While there will be a lot of unhappy people, particularly at Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, what with Leclerc qualifying tenth, Perez ninth - and with a 5-place grid drop - and Hamilton eighth, surely nobody will begrudge Magnussen and Haas their moment in the sun.
Magnussen takes pole, ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Sainz, Ocon, Alonso, Hamilton, Perez and Leclerc.
Albon is eleventh, ahead of Gasly, Vettel, Ricciardo, Stroll, Latifi, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher.
"Happy to be P3 and massive congrats to Kevin, what an awesome job he did," says Russell. "It's a good place to be starting from, it's our best shot of trying to finish ahead of Max and Red Bull is in mixed conditions."
"We knew it was going to be that one lap because of the rain," adds Verstappen, "I locked up into Turn 8 so that cost me pole today.
"In these conditions anything can happen and we are still upfront which is most important."
"I don't know what to say," grins Magnussen. "The team put me out in the perfect position, did a pretty decent lap and we are on pole.
"It's incredible, thank you. Maximum attack tomorrow, let's go for something funny."
Whatever one might think of the Sprint concept, this is one of those magical moments that we occasionally get to see in this sport, one of those moments that reminds one of why we first fell in love with it.
Make no mistake, this was no fluke, the Dane wasn't 'gifted' pole, there were seven other drivers on track at the time he posted that time, and each had the opportunity to take similar advantage.
Of course, Kevin will be lucky to take home one of those tacky medals tomorrow, but for the time being let's hope that he and his team can relish the moment.
Check out our Friday gallery from Interlagos here.